A professional video camera on a tripod in a studio setting, with a

Hybrid Meetings 

Upgrades, Investments and Renovations at The Historic Property Launch Meetings and Events for 2023

Meetings and events will play a critical role in bringing teams back together in-person and charting a course for the future. Re-imagining the hospitality and infrastructure with creative meeting sets and hybrid technology helps optimize healthy and hygienic practices, while providing a setting that stimulates collaboration and innovation.

Organizations will need to engage and motivate their teams, while managing risks in 2023. With The Hotel Roanoke Hybrid Meetings featuring advanced technology, meeting sets and video streaming capabilities, allows planners to produce seamless meetings both in-person and online.

With the installation of a $480,000 investment in renovations, infrastructure, and equipment, the hotel has created an inspiring meetings environment to safely achieve maximum potential in mixed live and virtual attendance during the recovery phases of the pandemic and beyond.

Hybrid Meetings & Events

A conference room with attendees seated at tables watching a presentation on a screen in a spacious, well-lit environment with chandeliers.
A conference room with attendees seated at tables watching a presentation on a screen in a spacious, well-lit environment with chandeliers.

With a $450,000 investment, The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center has created an inspiring environment to achieve maximum potential in a mixed live and virtual attendance meeting or conference during the recovery phases of the pandemic and beyond.

Designed as a purpose-built venue to host exceptional meetings and events, both in-person and virtually, we provide an on-site meeting concierge and a team of hospitality/technology professionals to guide clients through seamless hybrid meeting experiences.

The conference space at the 329 room property has been upgraded and renovated with the addition of new technology platforms. The capacity of a general session is expanded further with a fiber backbone to simulcast to all of the hotel’s internal spaces, including the Roanoke Ballroom, Crystal Ballroom, and Washington Lecture Hall.  

Upgrades to the property’s wireless HSIA network can now handle connections of more than 2,000 unique devices with a dedicated bandwidth circuit for any video element of the program. Virtual broadcast via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Webex is fully supported with a simple HDMI connection interface in large or small breakout spaces of the Conference Center.

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Standard Built-In Audiovisual

A group of people in formal attire is applauding, with their hands and partial upper bodies visible in the image.
A group of people in formal attire is applauding, with their hands and partial upper bodies visible in the image.
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  • Upgraded microphone capabilities with maximum coverage for various room sets and meetings or gatherings
  • Wireless gooseneck microphones that will reduce wires, clean up sets and improve setup time
  • Ceiling mounted microphones prevent shared mics and reduces the possible transmission of bacteria
  • QSC Core series echo cancellation greatly improves call/audio quality
  • New ceiling speakers in meeting rooms and ballrooms will eliminate rattles and improve audio output in those rooms for any event
  • Using the Crestron system, it is easy to change camera angles for Meetings without the need for a technician in-room

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Conference Center Upgrades

An empty conference room with tables and chairs spaced apart, elegant decor, chandeliers, and bottled water on the tables.
An empty conference room with tables and chairs spaced apart, elegant decor, chandeliers, and bottled water on the tables.
  • Audio echo cancellation for in-house and hybrid meetings with redundancy (upgraded rooms)
  • Conference network backbone redundancy upgrade
  • New ceiling speakers installed in Roanoke/Crystal Ballrooms and other upgraded rooms
  • Simulcast HD audio/video between ballrooms or meeting rooms
  • HD (high definition) projectors
  • Ability to simulcast events/breakouts entire property
  • Host more (8) virtual/hybrid meetings simultaneously

Take Your Meetings Outside!

Get Outside in 2024

People dining outdoors at tables; two women smile in the foreground with drinks. A brick building and live music stage are in the background.
People dining outdoors at tables; two women smile in the foreground with drinks. A brick building and live music stage are in the background.

To complement virtual and hybrid meetings, The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center recently completed a $3.9 million renovation of The Pine Room restaurant and further expanded outdoor venue offerings at the historic property. A stunning highlight of the renovation features a new stone patio space overlooking downtown that is perfect for private receptions, meet and greets, and group dining functions. The hotel also invested in new top-of-the-line fire pits and outdoor patio heaters to create an almost year-round opportunity and encourage groups to experience outside events. 

This new space complements the hotel's additional patios and outdoor spaces including the Garden Courtyard. Perfect for larger groups and social distancing, The Garden Courtyard features 6,270 sq. feet of multi-dimensional space, seating for up to 250 guests, a focal point gazebo that is perfect for numerous applications, as well as a designated lounge area surrounded by the beautiful garden plantings and the warmth of a cozy fire. Other outdoor spaces include the Pool Area, North Entry Courtyard and Lower Level Courtyards. 

These spaces combined offer the perfect opportunity to change scenery while weaving in the historic setting of the hotel, coupled with creative food and beverage that are deliciously destination-focused. 

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Hybrid Event Questions Answered

  • WHAT IS A HYBRID EVENT?

    In principle, a hybrid event brings together both virtual and in-person attendees and presenters – via a live online streaming platform.

  • HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM A VIRTUAL EVENT?

    The main difference is that a hybrid event also includes in-person attendees (or an audience), but also incorporates a virtual component such as streaming.

  • WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A HYBRID EVENT?

    In short, a hybrid event is the best of both worlds – enabling people from remote locations to attend virtually and those who prefer to visit in-person to experience the event face-to-face; increasing your event’s overall attendance. They are also easily scalable, cost-effective and can deliver greater levels of insight (through data collection)

  • WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF A HYBRID EVENT?

    It’s important to keep both online and in-person attendees equally engaged through relevant content. This is one of the reasons why The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center offers a state-of-the-art platform which optimises the experience for all attendees both in-person and attending virtually!

  • CAN THE HOTEL ROANOKE & CONFERENCE CENTER MANAGE EVERYTHING?

    We formed the partnership to remove the need for clients to find multiple suppliers. If you want to run a hybrid meeting or event, you will save plenty of time and effort as you only need to manage and plan through The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.

  • HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE NETWORKING AT HYBRID EVENTS?

    We formed the partnership to remove the need for clients to find multiple suppliers. If you want to run a hybrid meeting or event, you will save plenty of time and effort as you only need to manage and plan through The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.

  • HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE NETWORKING AT HYBRID EVENTS?

    Our audience engagement tools and features are available for both in-room and virtual attendees. There are a number of features that can be used to ‘close the gap’ between the virtual and physical networking experience.

  • WHAT TECHNOLOGY DO VIRTUAL ATTENDEES REQUIRE TO JOIN AN EVENT?

    All that’s required is an internet connected device that has a web browser. There’s never anything to download.

  • CAN I USE CAPTIONS IN MY LIVE STREAM?

    Our platform integrates a product called Wordly which can take your presenter audio and caption it in real time, using AI. It can then translate those captions in many different languages. The captions appear in the sidebar, rather than over the video stream itself.